No. 4 Shotgun Stories (2007) 27 of 100

 

This is an early to mid Shannon offering and one where he gets top billing. Although released in 2007, IMDb says most of the principal photography took place in 2004, making the on screen Shannon around 30 years old. He does look a bit younger than that and a good fit for his character, Son Hayes, the eldest of three brothers.

The film is set in the cotton fields of rural Arkansas, in contemporary times. Life is clearly hard with Son and his brothers barely scratching a living. One brother lives in a tent and another in a van. Son himself is a failed gambler with an estranged wife who dreams of something better.

One night the boys’ mother shows up, a lady who looks barely older than Shannon himself, who announces that their father has died. The boys show total indifference, failing to ask even how he met his end. They do ask for the details of the funeral which spells trouble from the off. We learn that Dad dumped the mother and three boys and started a new life with a new wife and soon had 4 more boys all of similar ages to Shannon and his siblings. Must be something in the water.

At the funeral Son interrupts the service and asks to say something. The widow foolishly agrees and Son then slags off the Dad before gobbing on the coffin, I doubt he’ll be invited back for steak pie with that behaviour.

Of course the other half of the family aren’t impressed and soon the two sets of half brothers begin a tit for tat revenge spree which ends in tragedy. Can the rifts be healed? or are the two families too proud and pig headed to avoid a total slaughter-fest?

I liked this low budget family drama. Shannon was the focus but he was also the main trouble maker, clearly blaming the issues he was facing in his life on his abandonment without a hint of introspection. The characters and dialogue reminded me of ‘Slingblade’ and whilst it wasn’t on that level, the film did paint a convincing picture of people with nothing trying to hang on to the little they had in terms of family and pride.

I’m guessing a lot of the actors here were first timers with a lot of raw deliveries and bewildered looks. I liked Shampoo, the brothers’ friend, who liked stirring things up as well as the cowardly brother who had to stand up when Shannon got biffed by a tractor.

The never working tractor was an obvious metaphor throughout the film and I was glad when it finally sparked into life near the end.

I thought the outcome here would be more brutal but I was glad there was a bit of a step back, with the titular shotguns staying in unused condition.

Shannon was good as the mysterious Son, a man with a back full of pellets and plenty of speculation as to where they came from. His Kentucky accent was well used here and he was only a good haircut away from a five star performance.

When is Shannon-On? - 00:24 (New Record)

Outcome? Drinking beer on his porch

Film 3.5/5

Shannon Stars 4/5